Eyjafjnallajokull, Iceland

Date & Duration

April/May 2010

39 days

Type of volcano

Composite volcano, covered by an ice cap → Lava melted ice which increased the explosivity and caused the ice to be ejected into the atmosphere

VEI

3

Characteristics of Place

→ Sparsely Populated

→ 28th richest country in world - no one below poverty line

→ Volcano was considered dormant

Primary Impacts

→ Large ash cloud - wide scale, global impacts

→ Pyroclastic flow

Airport impacts

No fly zone

Cost airports £130 million per day for six days

Icelandic Response

Rebranding to promote tourism

Death Toll

0

Evacuation

1000

Health impacts

23% increase in respiratory illness

Environmental impacts

10,000m ash plume

local farmland became infertile due to acidic conditions

meltwater causes flooding

Economic Impacts

Crops destroyed → loss of income

Lower harvests for 2 years following

High Food prices

Political Impacts

Affected Europe’s GDP

Trade industry affected

Vulnerability

Fatalistic → coexist with hazard due to living on boundary

Preparation

Heavily monitored → but believed to be dormant

Flood defences in place

Response

Emergency services deployed

Distributed face mask to stop ash poisoning

Livestock kept indoors

Recovery

Extra Flood Defences

Health surveillance

Effectiveness of response

NO DEATHS
PPE provided
Flights grounded to reduce risk
Financial aid given to farmers